


a baffling encounter (with a new daughter?)

by tinycutefauna



Series: running wild (and running free) [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Found Family, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinycutefauna/pseuds/tinycutefauna
Summary: It was barely noon but it had already been a long day. Benn Beckman slowly blew out his cigarette smoke after taking a long drag. They were at the Captain's current favourite local bar after yesterday's partying had finished all the booze. Shanks himself, unfortunately, was not there.Most days, he felt more like a babysitter than a pirate but, he supposed, that was his own fault because he had chosen Shanks as his captain.-In which Erei shamelessly steals what would have been Ace's move, meets the Red Hair Pirates and adds to her collection of adopted family
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks & Original Female Character(s), Benn Beckman & Original Female Character(s)
Series: running wild (and running free) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2070258
Kudos: 4





	a baffling encounter (with a new daughter?)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

It was barely noon but it had already been a long day. Benn Beckman slowly blew out his cigarette smoke after taking a long drag. They were at the Captain's current favourite local bar after yesterday's partying had finished all the booze. Shanks himself, unfortunately, was not there. He'd headed out to town that morning in great spirits and half drunk, promising to meet up with the rest of them at his favourite bar. Since then, Beckman had woken up the rest of the crew, gotten them to anchor the ship properly, set up a day watch and herded the rest of them to the bar to wait for their captain. Most days, he felt more like a babysitter than a pirate but, he supposed, that was his own fault because he had chosen Shanks as his captain.

Idly, he watched his crewmates make a ruckus and somewhat terrorise the bartender while they drank the place dry. At least this bartender also had food available to fill their stomachs for when they inevitably finished all the beer. He mused if Shanks would be back before all the alcohol was finished and how petty his captain would be about it afterwards. Then, as if summoned by his bored thoughts, the bar's doors opened.

Sadly, it wasn't a one-armed red-haired pirate that walked into the bar but a young girl who barely looked fifteen but didn't hold herself like a fifteen year old. Her brown skin was washed out by the poor bar lighting and her face shadowed by her cap but Benn noticed both her toned muscles and the dagger sheaths on her tool belt under the jacket tied at her waist. She was clearly no civilian but no Marine that age approached pirates with such ease either. She was either a Revolutionary, a pirate or a mercenary of some sort - probably the first one with how young she looked.

After this cursory glance and deduction, Beckman looked away, trying to figure out which of the sandwich options on the bar menu looked the least unappetizing. He figured he'd step in only if she or his crewmates caused trouble. He had no intention of striking up a conversation like Shanks would've. And that was why he continued to look away when her clear voice yelled out the name of one of his closest friends.

"Hey Yasopp!"

The Red Hair pirates started hooting at her call while others hushed their conversations to pay attention to whatever drama would go down. Bunch of gossips, the lot of them.

"Oi Yasopp! Ya pick em young or something? Too old to be your kid! And here I thought you were still sweet on your long-nosed woman!" One of the men cackled.

Beckman took notice of his face and name for talking to later. Teasing was normal in their crew but there were some boundaries to not cross and Beckman had often found Yasopp in the crew's nest, looking out over the ocean and lost in his head. He really did love Banchina even now, from hundreds of miles away and even now, cried about his son whenever he got well and truly drunk. Shanks had a rule about crewmembers not seriously hurting each other and that had been a low blow.

Before that particular situation could escalate, the girl easily stepped up to the man who had laughed at Yasopp and casually slammed his head down onto the table. "Didn't anyone ever teach you to be courteous to women?"

In spite of himself, Beckman smiled. The girl had guts. That was further proved when she spun around to flip off all of his crewmates laughing at the poor man with his head in a table and then faced Yasopp. "Could you judge my aim for me?"

Quick as lightning, the girl swiftly withdrew a dagger from her belt and threw it directly towards Beckman, startling swears out of the men nearby. Beckman didn't move - he sensed no ill intentions and she wasn't aiming to fit him anyway. His poor cigar though, was put out as her dagger neatly sliced through its end. Rather impressive - for someone to attempt that and succeed. And either very brave or very stupid to make it seem like she was threatening a prominent Red Hair pirate in front of his crew. Plus, she had had clearly been expecting to see them and known Yasopp's name - this was someone who had done their research.

Beckman nonchalantly removed his cigarette from his mouth as Yasopp laughed. "Not bad for a rookie. Depends on what you were aiming for though."

The girl grinned sheepishly as she made her way across and jumped over the bar counter to take back her dagger from where it was embedded in a wall. "You have a point. I meant to strike it the middle and not the end. Probably need more practice."

Her reply rung out in the silence for a moment as Yasopp raised his beer at her and continued drinking while Beckman quietly watched. Realising the show was over, the chatter returned to normal - though Beckman could see more than a few lingering eyes on them. Still, the girl ignored them as she fished out some money from a pocket and put it on the bar counter in front of the petrified bar owner 'to pay for the property damage'. Then she jumped across the counter once more and bowed in introduction before Beckman, "Fa Erei, a pleasure to have your acquaintance."

"Benn Beckman," he replied, "though you knew that already."

Erei grinned. "Well, I _have_ been searching for your captain for a while now - and forewarned is forearmed! You didn't mind me putting out the cigar, did you? I detest the smell of smoke."

Her words sounded rather polished for someone who looked like she had grown up in a jungle and just slammed a man's head onto a table but, Beckman supposed, he was hardly in a position to judge someone for that. Plus, there was a childish charm about her which he liked which made him wanna dismiss any concerns. (He pointedly ignored the tiny voice in the back of his mind reminding him of how Shanks had been similarly charmed by Luffy a few years ago).

"Nah, I didn't mind. But my captain isn't here right now so you came at the wrong time. I don't know when he'll be back."

The girl laughed, waving him off, "Oh, that's fine! He'll get here when he gets here. He's likely either doing something very dumb or very serious. And he _will_ be back eventually, he's too much in love with alcohol to keep away from it for long."

Beckman raised a brow at her, internally noting how she seemed to know his captain well already, "Not usually a good idea to insult a captain in front of his crew."

She giggled, "But not every captain is Shanks. I wonder how you have the patience to stand him sometimes."

Beckman let himself smile again at that. "Yeah, he's a slippery bastard. Anything I can help you with? I'm the first mate, maybe I know whatever you're looking for."

Erei smiled softly at him, eyes bright with warmth and affection, "I'm the adopted sister of one Monkey D. Luffy, also known to you as Anchor, and I want to thank Shanks for saving his life."

Beckman felt his eyebrows shoot up in shock. He was used to a lot of crazy things happening on the Grand Line but this was something he hadn't expected at all. He could see the resemblance now - though she still seemed more contained than the Monkey D.s he knew. Maybe, he chuckled inwardly to himself, being adopted saved you from some of the insanity of being both a Monkey and a D.

"Feel free to stick around then, Captain will be happy to see you." He told her, hoping Shanks would show up soon and mostly sober.

Erei beamed at him in response and Beckman felt his heart softening again. She seemed like a good kid. If he'd been more like Shanks, he'd have wanted to take her in. Of course, he couldn't do that but a little conversation before his captain showed up wouldn't hurt, right?

(He was right but he didn't know he'd already failed his objective of trying not to get attached because Erei had already decided to adopt him.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr, Twitter and even Instagram as @tinycutefauna so feel free to talk to me anytime about Erei, One Piece or any of the other fandoms I've written for!  
> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! They're the reason I keep writing so I love each and every single one of them <3


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